journalists that a body was found inside that burned out cabin where the former lapd officer had barricaded himself. then just a couple hours ago, police said no, that is not the case. until they learn otherwise, they will continue to operate as if dorner could still be on the loose. before this cabin went up in flames in big bear, california, a law enforcement source says a single gunshot was heard. inside police believed one of their former brothers, ex-los angeles police officer christopher dorner was finally cornered, desperate, and out of time. but as the cabin burned into the evening, police said they had no confirmation dorner was still inside. >> that cabin is still too hot for anybody to make entry. there has been no body located inside of that cabin. >> reporter: earlier, dorner exchanged gunfire with sheriff's deputies on the mountain, wounding one and killing another. >> and was engaged in gunfire with our deputy sheriffs, shot

two of our deputy sheriffs, and one of those deputies died. >> for four days there was no word of dorner's whereabouts. then shortly after noon today local time, a big bear resident reported his truck was stolen by a man resembling dorner. dorner allegedly engaged in shoot-outs with sheriffs and fish and game officers before barricading himself in the cabin. dorner has been on the run since super bowl sunday when police connected the murders of two people in irvine, california, to an angry manifesto posted on dorner's facebook page. in the manifesto, dorner allegedly threatens to exact revenge on those connected to his firing from the lapd in 2009. the los angeles police chief said tonight his officers will continue to guard the more than 50 lapd personnel thought to be still targets of dorner. in los angeles, jinah kim, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, jinah. now dorner's ongoing cop vendetta proved tragic again, as you heard, with those two officers shot. sadly, the sheriff's deputy was

killed, the other wounded. both were chasing the suspect when they were shot. >> it's painful for every person associated with the law enforcement family across southern california. they've been working together closely on this search for the last six days. >> now tomorrow a funeral will be held for riverside police officer believed to be killed by dorner last week. governor jerry brown says he will attend the officer's funeral. dorner is also suspected of killing an lapd captain's daughter and her fiance. our coverage of the dorner case continues on our website, nbcbayarea.com, and that includes an in-depth timeline of how this manhunt has been unfolding. it was perhaps one of the most powerful moments of the president's state of the union address, the issue of gun control. mr. obama demanded that congress act swiftly, and he did so by creating an emotional backdrop. >> in the chamber, there were more than two dozen americans whose lives had been torn apart by gun violence. president obama acknowledged

their loss and told america that they deserved a vote. >> gabby giffords deserves a vote. the families of newtown deserve a vote. the families of aurora deserve a vote. the families of oak creek and tucson and blacksburg and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence, they deserve a simple vote. >> the president spoke for about an hour and covered a wide range of topics. he called for immigration reform and said he is pulling 34,000 troops out of afghanistan within a year. he also announced the formation of a nonpartisan commission to improve the voting experience in america. and the president made clear his second term priority is increasing our employment, not shrinking the debt. >> deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan. a growing economy that greats good middle class jobs, that must be the north star that guides our efforts.

>> i want to check in now with nbc bay area's sam brock for tonight's reality check on the state of the union. sam joins us with a look at whether the president's claims for gun reform and proposals to boost the economy all ring true, sam. >> major issues, jessica. and above all else, we would say this. first, that the president's goal tonight was fairly simple. he had to make the case for his various policy proposals. now on gun reform, it was more of an emotional plea for improving minimum wage standards, the president took a more practical approach. but in both cases he needs the facts on his side. and in that regard there were mixed reviews. looking to strike an internal chord with the still tearful audience tuesday night, president obama shined the light on families victimized by gun violence. >> they deserve a vote. >> reporter: before making the following claim about passing new gun laws. >> overwhelming majority of americans, americans who believe in the second amendment have come together around common

sense reform, like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. >> reporter: as it pertains to this claim, president obama is largely correct. a quinnipiac university study conducted just last week asked respondents if they support or oppose a background check for all gun buyers. here are the results. 92% of people overall supported the background check, with 91% of gunowners lending their support. so the president is mostly correct. but when the university asked about supporting stricter gun laws in general, only 52% said yes and 43% said no. hardly an overwhelming majority. next, the president called for a hike in the federal minimum wage. something that hasn't happened in three years. >> tonight let's declare that in the wealthiest nation in earth, no one who works full time should have to live in poverty and raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour. >> reporter: any available evidence showing that raising

the minimum wage lowers the poverty rate is flimsy at best. the federal minimum wage was hiked in 2011, 2008, and most recently in 2009. the poverty rates that followed, well, it jumped from 12.5% in 2007 to 13.3% in 2008, then up to 14.3 in 2009, and up to 15.1% in 2010. in other words, povertily rose every year after the minimum wage hikes. now certainly economists say there are some positive everythings that come from raising the minimum wage, like more consumer spending and modest employment growth. but president obama has to make a better case for that, certainly a better case than he did tonight. i'm sam brock, and that's tonight's reality check. back to you. >> thank you, sam. the president also stressed the importance of bringing jobs back to america. and as he did that, a face very familiar to silicon valley appeared on tvs across the nation. >> caterpillar is bringing jobs back from japan. ford is bringing jobs back from ford. and this year, apple will start

making macs in america again. >> it's a big honor for apple's ceo tim cook. you can see him there. the first lady invited him to be one of her guests tonight. tech analysts say the president's speech was a very powerful nod to silicon valley. >> major players there like tim cook from apple, but he made great inroads in terms of talking about getting students to study sciences critical for developing technology. talked about the state of the union and how it needs to focus on building the innovation of tomorrow. >> now this is the second year in a row the first lady has invited someone connected to an toll the state of the union address. last year you may remember steve jobs' widow sat with mrs. obama. right now on nbcbayarea.com, we posted analysis of the president's address. all you need to do is click on the story on your home page. >> runaway spending. it's a program out of control. >> is big-time college athletics

costing higher public educations? tonight nbc bay area's investigative unit adds up the true cost of competing at the highest level in college athletics. and on the eve of ash wednesday, new details from the vatican on the pope's decision to step down. when he made that decision, and why his retirement could set a precedent. and linsanity back in the bay. a lot of people not cheering for the warriors tonight. jeremy lin, a gift he got his parents and friends. a man accused of plotting to blow up bay area banks. a new question about his terror ties.

new at 11:00, is the fbi to

blame? tonight there are growing questions about the foiled bomb plot in oakland last friday. a san jose man was arrested. the aclu is crying foul, saying undercover fbi agents suggest a plot and then see it through, something the suspect would never accomplish on his own. nbc bay area's terry mcsweeney joins us from san jose this evening. terry, these are some serious charges against the fbi, right? >> reporter: they certainly are. tonight i got a chance to talk to michael german. he is the senior policy council for the aclu. he says the fbi does this so as to justify all the anti-terrorist activity inside that organization. and he says recently he has seen a dramatic spike in what he calls theatrical stings. last friday in oakland, matthew yaneza of san jose is arrested at a bank of america for allegedly trying to detonate a bomb he has put together with an undercover fbi agent posing as an accomplice. but tonight the aclu says more and more sting operations like

this. it's not only the fbi that puts the majority of the bomb together, but also creates the plot where the bomb will be used. >> almost a theatrical production that makes it appear that the defendant or that the subject of the investigation could do far more damage than they ever could have done on their own. >> reporter: this 2011 mug shot of llaneza followed his arrest in san jose for the possession of an ak-47 assault rifle. his mother called to say her son was hearing voices. >> experts felt that he was bipolar, possibly schizophrenic. >> reporter: experts say there are strict guidelines about undercover operations. the aclu feel there's may not be enough. >> it's still a very dangerous threat out there. and, again, that's question aboutab able, where all of the links to real terrorist groups are actually provided by the government. >> reporter: now mr. german says he is not saying that the

suspects captured in these sting operations are innocent or even not guilty of serious crimes. but he does say that the crimes they're guilty of are possibly not as serious as the fbi makes them out to be. live in san jose, terry mcsweeney, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, terry. we have new information tonight about pope benedict's decision to step down and what is ahead of the the 85-year-old pontiff. still no official reason for the pope's sudden retirement, but they do believe his health and age were a concern, citing the fact that he felt he could no longer continue his duties. the vatican, however, says the decision was made about a year ago before a recent surgery. pope benedict's resignation has several bishops around the world wondering if there is a precedent being set allowing future popes to follow suit. the pontiff's future plans include living at a monaçtery inside the vatican. now, tomorrow he'll preside over an ash wednesday mass. a large crowd is expected as it will be his last public mass.

it is a sensitive and polarizing debate on many college campuses. the price of competing in big-time athletics hurting the academic bottom line? a growing number of critics say yes, and they point to uc berkeley as the example. nbc bay area stephen stock teamed up with the investigative reporting program at cal in search of answers. stephen, what did you find out? >> reporter: raj, all across the cal berkeley campus, budgets are being cut because the state is just not funding the school like it used to. but one department has actually seen an increase in its budget -- athletics. which has seen its budget nearly doubled in less than a decade. and that has some on the academic side crying foul. >> runaway spending. it's a program out of control. >> reporter: an athletics program that dr. lee alesco says grows while her research suffers. >> i've had to cut back on my research. >> reporter: anthropology research into patterns of genetic inheritance that she can

no longer accomplish. >> i passed on being a coprinciple investigator on a national institute of health a couple of years back because i didn't have the lab resources to do the work. >> reporter: and it's not just in the lab, but in the classroom. >> we're offering fewer and fewer classes to all of the students. >> if you've only got so much in the pot, where do you put it? >> reporter: professor laura nader has been teaching here for 52 years. she is worried about what cal is spending money on. >> now it's out of control. and if you ask people why, they say that's what the market requires. but the market? i thought we were an ivory tower. i thought we were arms' length, we decided. >> reporter: take a look at these numbers. cal's athletic budget nearly doubled from 45,000 in 2004 to a projected $90 million this year, only a fraction of projected $4.5 million this year comes directly from the school. the rest supplied by team revenues and donations. during the same time, state

funding for the berkeley campus as a whole dropped by $160 million. forcing student tuition to more than double. >> so there is a little bit less support staff for teaching. >> reporter: while conceding tight economic times, biology professor gary firestone says intercollegiate athletics are critical to berkeley's success. >> i'm absolutely convinced that money is coming to academic programs because of having athletics on campus. and that's at a high level, the division i level. >> reporter: at the same time academics has seen cutbacks, cal athletics paid a former coach tedford up to $5.5 million not to coach football. and these documents show berkeley is paying louisiana tech a half million more dollars to buy out the old contract of tedford's replacement, sonny dikes. new details are still to be announced.

the administration says the money for these payouts comes from donations, not campus funds. but some professors say the payouts serve as a lesson in priorities here. >> and athletics is one of the many things that cost money. >> reporter: a chancellor points out that most of the athletic department's budget comes from outside sources such as donations, ticket sales, tv contracts, and other revenue. but that's not enough to fund the program completely. so the university has to pay out the difference. >> athletics could ultimately be a profit center, i'd be extremely happy about that. but we don't require that. >> reporter: the difference the campus has to pay out came to nearly $11 million in 2009, $7 million last year. and a projected 4.5 million at the end of this fiscal year. the payoff worth it? >> the payoff is absolutely worth it. first of all, i couldn't imagine having a second rate intercollegiate athletics program. we don't do anything second rate at berkeley. >> reporter: the chancellor also points out that the campus's

contribution to intercollegiate athletics makes up less than 1/3 of 1% of the university's $2.3 billion overall budget, a budget that continues to actually grow, despite the dramatic decline in financial support from sacramento. >> if we did not have the income generating sports, our shortfalls would look like more like those in the ivies which are more like tens of millions of dollars. >> reporter: but does competing at the highest levels of the ncaa come with other costs? >> there are very few programs in this country that are meeting that principle of self-sufficiency. >> reporter: cedric dempsey served as president of the ncaa for nine years. he now consults for university athletic programs around the country from his home in la jolla. dempsey says uc berkeley is not alone. of the 340 division 1 athletic programs, only 23 actually bring in more money than they spend. and berkeley is not one of them.

>> that's my biggest problem where we are with the division 1 sports today. it has become a big business. and with that there is so mutch focus upon the need to generate revenues. >> reporter: that is what is commonly called the arm's race within the ncaa, bigger and bigger salaries for coaches, bigger and bigger capital campaigns to build more facilities to attract more athletes and keep up with the other schools. if this trend continues, berkeley is likely to be confronted with these questions once again. what cost does it maintain a top flight division 1 athletic program? and is there ever a point where it should drop out of that arm's race? raj, jessica? >> thank you, stephen. it is a pandora's box. if you have a tip for stephen stock or anyone in our investigative unit, give us a call at 888-996-tips. eye-opening report.

let's turn things over to jeff ranieri. boy, it started off cold today, but it got nicer in the afternoon, jeff. >> it sure did. a 25 to 35 degree jump for parts of the bay area. one of the largest down in the south bay with 67 in gilroy. south san jose 65. walnut creek also at 65. if you would like the 67 in the south bay today, it's going to get even warmer here by thursday. we are forecasting some low 70s just 36 days until spring officially arrives. a look right now on the current temperatures. and we do have plenty of low to mid-40s down in the south bay. 38 in napa and 39 in novato. where the temperatures are dropping off to the coldest levels, that's where we're finding fog developing. it's not too bad right now. six miles and/or less in santa rosa. but for tomorrow morning looks like the patchy fog at 2 miles and/or less would be confined right here to the north bay. let's take you live outside in the hd sky camera network. more of the poor air quality in the south bay, and then right up into emeryville, looking towards san francisco. and it's clear. we can't rule out a little bit of fog that will make it right

across the golden gate bridge for tomorrow. let's get you back into the weather mix. high pressure offshore. this will keep it dry. we are just begging for some sort of raindrop. it looks like that ♪ is not going to be possible until some time next week. we have that coming up in the seven-day forecast for tomorrow. 50s and 60s, plenty of sunshine throughout the afternoon. and for those interior valleys, a mix of 60s, and then eventually some 70s coming in that seven-day forecast with a few 70s there. we think that will sort of pop on the weather board by thursday. if you do suffer from allergies, you'll want to get outside. you'll want to enjoy this sunshine. it's going to be a little tough for you here. trees, alder, juniper and birch surging up into the moderate categories as we head throughout the next 24 hours. otherwise for tomorrow, starting off cold in santa rosa with 36. 33 in napa. 37 in livermore and 40 in san jose. likely a little patchy frost up into the north bay and also areas of fog we talked about. daytime highs for the afternoon are going to surge up,

potentially to 70 in gilroy for tomorrow. 66 in morgan hill. 66 in san jose. and also 65 in los gatos. not quite as warm for the east bay, but you're running just behind the south bay. 64 in danville. 64 in dublin and 63 in the castro valley. 62346 santa rosa, and good old san francisco at 63. on your three-day forecast, we keep sunshine here wednesday, thursday, and also on friday. then for this upcoming weekend, cloud cover increases. that chance of rain coming as we head throughout next week. on tuesday, they said on my twitter account, come on mother nature. just a 40% chance of showers right now. looks like it might only bring us a tenth of an inch of rain by next tuesday. keeping an eye on it. >> you said all that in a tweet? >> check it out at jeff ranieri. >> we'll be right back.

we have an update now on that breaking story, the search for former lapd officer christopher dorner.

time will tell if he is dead or alive inside a mountain cabin in big bear, california. dorner is accused of killing these four people before he barricaded himself inside a mountain cabin that went up in flames today. officers and the fire department said it's still too hot to go into the smoldering cabin to find out if dorner is inside. earlier dorner exchanged gunfire with sheriff's deputies on the mountain, wounding one sheriff and killing another. police remain on high alert at this hour. the search for dorner may continue tomorrow. we'll be back in a moment.

good evening. i'm dave feldman in the comcast sportsnet studios. the warriors in a funk, losers of four straight, and taking on a rockets team that blew them out eight days ago in houston. tonight in oakland for the final game before the all-star break where jeremy lin from palo alto high making his return to the bay area. first quarter, stephen curry, harrison barnes, capping off a

13-3 warriors run. second half, though, all rockets. 107-99. linda chandler parsons. the rockets win, lin 14 points, 10 assists and postgame analysis. >> it's awesome is. it's awesome seeing everybody. a lot of friends and family out there. this is my first time back where i'm actually playing nongarbage time. so, you know, it was fun. it was fun. hockey. sharks and predators. this game went scoreless into overtime. ellis throws it on goal. collin wilson pokes it home past ante niemi. sharks remain winless in february. they lose 1-0. today was the first day for giants pitchers and catchers to report in scottsdale, arizona. but when you're the defending champs you want to get there early. and many position players also showed up. that's a look at sports. i'm dave feldman. raj and jesse back with more right after this.

jeff is here. >> yes, i am. it's a big weather day for tomorrow, guys. lots of sunshine coming our way. that's right. we want to give you this awesome forecast. wednesday, thursday, and friday, upper 60s to low 70s. this is whether we should have about two months from now. and then as we head throughout saturday and sunday, a little bit of cloud cover, and then a chance of showers by next tuesday. so far so good there for valentine's day on thursday. >> i know you really wanted the rain. >> i do. >> rain, rain. >> that would be the best love to give a weatherman. >> thanks for joining us tonight. have a great day tomorrow. we hope to see you. >> bye-bye. mom, i invited justin over for lunch.

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>> announcer: it's "the tonight show with jay leno," featuring rickey minor and "the tonight show" band. tonight, jay welcomes -- charles barkley, bob fisher, the world's fastest free throw shooter, the music of jewel and "headlines." and now, jay leno! [ cheers and applause ] captions paid for by nbc-universal television captions by vitac www.vitac.com ♪ [ cheers and applause ]

>> jay: thank you very much! thank you very much! welcome to "the tonight show." nice to have you here. well, earlier tonight, president obama gave his state of the union address. you know what i love? at every state of the union address, the president is always introduced by some guy who walks in and goes, "mr. speaker, the president of the united states!" you know, if we're really serious about reducing the size of government, start with that guy, okay? [ laughter ] i mean, what does he work? one day a year? you know, joe biden's got nothing to do. let him introduce the president. we're already paying him. exactly. [ cheers and applause ] actually, do you know why the white house scheduled the state of the union address for lincoln's birthday today instead of washington's birthday? >> rickey: no. >> jay: well, it's because washington was famous for saying, "i cannot tell a lie."